January 31, 2013 11:17:03 PM EST

Members and guests,

Tonight was doubles action at the Cayman Islands Tennis Club in the PwC Men’s Invite.  The players played two rounds of the round robin format with the first round being played last evening.  The top team in each group will get the chance to play for the money in the finals on Saturday following the singles final.  So, if a team won all three of their matches in their group of four teams then they will be playing for the cash!   In tonight’s action beginning at 6 PM, the spectators were able to witness the best doubles tandem that has ever been played in Cayman.  The number one seeds, Dennis Zivkovic and Stefanno Ianni defeated Richard Bullbring and Adam Bayley 6-0, 6-1.  The number one seeds in the doubles have both been ranked in the top 130 in the world and are still very active in playing the ATP tour.  Actually, their next stop after this will be Dallas and then they will try and qualify for Indian Wells.  Their third round this evening was against Eduardo Torres and Mica Koll.  Zivkovic and Ianni won this match 6-1, 6-1.  This team is amazing to watch and if you don’t come out in watch this team in the finals on Saturday after the singles final, well I am just not sure what to say.  They are by far the most active competitors that the Island has seen, and I do not want to take anything from the Legend’s event but those greats have not been active as of late.

In the second group of the round robin we had another four teams to find out which team would make it to the finals on Saturday.  Unfortunately, one team had to pull out of this group due to injury so we only had three teams that were trying to make it through.  The last match that the fans were able to watch were two teams that both were 2-0 before the final round of the round robin doubles.  The number one seed in this group was Philip Bester and Thomas Neuert playing against the two brothers from Jamaica McCoy and Marcus Malcolm.  It was a great match to watch knowing that the winning team was going to get to the money final on Saturday.  A bit surprising to some of the fans, the tough Jamaican team finished on top, defeating Philip Bester and Thomas Neuert 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).  The Jamaican team are returning for their fourth appearance in this PwC Men’s Invitational Championships and this will be the best result that they will have in the doubles competition.  Not bad for the youngsters from the Caribbean region!  We all know that Philip Bester is a very talented singles player being as ranked as 220 ATP in the world.

Tomorrow’s action will be remarkable!  We have two semi-finals singles matches back to back at The Cayman Islands Tennis Club.  The first match will go on at 5:30 PM, which will showcase the number 1 seed and the number 4 seed.  Dennis Zivkovic, the number 1 seed, will take on the up and coming Jamaican, McCoy Malcolm the number 4 seed.  Dennis has a current ATP ranking of 300 in the world and is making his debut in Cayman.  McCoy is the finalist of last year’s PwC Men’s singles and is continually improving by playing up in the States.  It should be the first of two great matches.  Following this match you will have a chance to witness the number 2 seed in the tournament, Philip Bester and the number 3 seed, Stefanno Ianni compete for the final on Saturday.  Philip, who has been as high as 220 in the ATP, a Canadian Davis Cup player is also making his first visit to Cayman this week.  Stefanno, a second year veteran to the PwC Men’s Invite, who lost to the Champion last year will be trying to get his first chance at the final.  Stefanno was also ranked in the top 300 ATP in the past.  SEMI-FINAL MATCHES BEGIN AT 5:30 pm FRIDAY A THE CLUB!

Like I have said, this is truly turning out to be the best PwC Cayman Men’s Invitational that we have hosted at the Cayman Islands Tennis Club.  The matches tomorrow will simply be the best tennis you have seen on this great Island of Cayman.  I would also like to say that, although I am happy for the support that the players have gotten by the fans this year, it still is a bit disappointing that more tennis fans have not been down to watch.  Tonight we maybe had 100 people at one point watching some great doubles action.  There is no reason that we should not be able to get 200 people down here every evening.  There is no cost to spectate the event!  The beer is a mere $3.50 for one!  Tomorrow is Friday!  So why not watch some great tennis and make it your happy hour spot for the next two days.  Food again will be provided by “Boss Hoggs” for the Friday match.  If you are a tennis fan, a sports fan then there is simply no excuse not to come down.

Again, I would like to thank our primary sponsor of PwC, for seven years with their help we have been able to make a wonderful tournament.  Cayman National Bank for their second year of support and for giving us the sponsorship to try and make the event better, thank you!

Boss Hoggs BBQ, the food has been amazing!

Following is the schedule of play!

Two semi-final Matches:

Dennis Zivkovic versus McCoy Malcolm at 5:30 PM

Stefanno Ianni versus Philip Bester following the first singles match!

Below you will be able to watch a Cayman 27 news update of the PwC events that have taken place the last two weeks!  Enjoy, some of the footage is two Club Member’s battling it out in the PwC Cayman Open finals last Saturday.

http://www.cayman27.com.ky/2013/01/31/seward-on-tennis-in-cayman

Please check the Club’s website for all of the doubles results at www.tennis.com

Good night from The Cayman Islands Tennis Club!  The tennis is here and now for two more days!

Cayman Islands Tennis Club

Rob Seward – Director of Tennis/Club Manager